American Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Lice Spotted in Passenger's Hair

Phoenix: American Airlines flight made an emergency landing after a passenger reported seeing lice in another woman's hair. 

The flight landed in Phoenix, citing a medical emergency.

An eyewitness and passenger on the flight, Ethan Judelson, posted a video on TikTok sharing his experience. He said everyone was confused and the crew did not provide solid information regarding the diversion. 

There was huge confusion and uncertainty among passengers. The video garnered more than 1.2milion views on social platforms.

A TikTok creator detailed the scene inside the flight when it was diverted to Phoenix. He said in the video, "I look around, no one's on the ground, no one's freaking out. I'm like, it can't be that dire. But we land, and as soon as we land, this woman across the aisle from me shoots up and rushes to the front of the plane."

The airline cited a medical reason for the diversion, but just after landing, Judelson overheard a hushed conversation between two women. According to eyewitnesses, two passengers had spotted lice crawling out of a woman's hair and they rushed to alert the flight attendants.

"Apparently those two girls, they saw bugs crawling out of the woman's hair ... and alerted the flight attendant," Mr. Judelson said in the TikTok video.

To compensate for the 12-hour delay, the airline provided hotel vouchers to every passenger in Phoenix.

"Right when we land in Phoenix, we all get the email saying, 'Here's your voucher for the hotel.' And we're like, 'Hotel, are we staying here?'" Mr. Judelson added.

American Airlines later confirmed that the flight was diverted because of a medical emergency.

In a statement, an American Airlines spokesperson said, "On June 15, American Airlines Flight 2201, traveling from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK), was diverted to Phoenix (PHX) due to a customer's medical needs."